Automatic railway-gate



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. BAADE.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY GATE.

Patented Aug. 14, 1894.

WZze/wa W n: uoizms PETER o0. moroumm WASNIN (No Model.) 7 2 Sheets--Sheet 2.

J. BAADE. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY GATE.

No. 524,662. Patented Aug. 14, 1894.

zez/eizfwr J 24 W I g UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN BAADE, OF \VACO, TEXAS.

AUTOMATIC RAI LWAY-GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 524,662, dated August14;, 1894.

Application filed January 27, 1894. Serial No. 498,227- (No model.)

To 00% whom, it may concern:

- Be it known that 1, JOHN BAADE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Waco, in the county of McLennan and State of Texas, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Automatic Railway-Gates, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatically aetuated mechanism for operatingrailway gates or cattle-guards at various points along a line ofrailroad, whether at crossings, the entrances to tunnels, bridges ortrestles,or at other places where it is desirable to guard the tracks.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and thoroughlyeffective arrangement of automatically operated devices for closingrailway-gates or cattle-guards, and to operate the said gates or guardsfrom a distance, and either upon asingle or a double track, by means ofmechanism actuated and controlled by the wheels of passing trains,moving in either direction.

My invention consists in the features of construction and novelcombinations of devices comprised in an automatically actuated mechanismfor operating from a distance the gates or cattle guards located along arailway, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

To enable others skilled in the art to which my invention pertains tounderstand and to make, construct and use the same, I will now describethe said invention in detail, reference being bad, for this purpose, tothe accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure 1 is a plan of a portion ofa railway track showing my improved automatically actuated gateoperatingmechanism arranged in connection with a cattle-guard extendedacross the track. Fig. 2 is a partly sectional elevation of the same, inthe longitudinal line of the track, between the rails. Fig. 3 is a de-'tail view of a series of drums or pulleys connected by an endless chain,cable, or wire rope for transmitting the motion of certain parts of themechanism on one side of a crossing, or pair of gates, to correspondingmechanism or devices on the other side. Fig. at is a detail sectionalelevation illustrating means for automatically shifting or adjusting thegate shafts and their immediate operating mechanism for bringing thesame into position to be automatically actuated bya train passing in theopposite direction from that for which the gates are norm-ally set. Fig.5 is an enlarged partly sectional view of the same, from the oppositeside, illustrating, also, a locking mechanism for the gates. Fig. 6 is adetail plan 'also showing the said locking mechanism. Fig. 7 is anelevation of a cattle-guard, with the railway track in verticaltransverse section.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 1, designates the rails of a lineof railway, and 2 indicates a crossing or passage way over the railwaytrack, which it may be desirable to protect, either by means ofvertically swinging gate-arms or beams arranged to be swung transverselyto the crossing road during the passage of a train, or by means ofcattlegnards or gates normally extended across the railway track whenthe road crossing is open.

At each side of the road crossing, and below the level of the rails 1,are transversely arranged shafts 3 that extend acrossthe track and,preferably, beyond its opposite sides. These shafts 3 are j ournaled insuitable bearings which, on one side of the track, are arranged in orupon slide blocks 4: having a slight automatic horizontal adjustment inthe manner and for the purpose hereinafter explained. The slide blocks4, on opposite sides of the road crossing, are rigidly connected bymeans of a rod 5 arranged parallel with and below the level of therailway track. Suitably firm supports 6 are provided for the j ournalbearings of the shafts 3, and for the slide blocks 4 through which saidshafts are made adjustable.

The shafts 3 are each provided with a spurgear 7 and with a drum orpulley 8, both of which are fast on their respective shafts. The gears 7and drums 8 are located on one side of the track and outside theadjacent rail 1, as shown. By a slight lateral adjustment of the shafts3, through the connected slide blocks 4, either spur-gear 7 may be madeto mesh with a spur gear 9 which is fast on a short transverselyarranged shaft 10 that may be supported in any suitable manner adjacentto the track. A spur-gear 9 and its shaft 10 are arranged on the outerside of each shaft 3, or outside the road crossing 2, as shown.

tion, to and above the tread of the rail. arrangement of the series ofsaid lever arms is such,-also that each one 1D succession, asi

To the outer end of one of the slide blocks 4 is fastened one end of aspring 11, the other end of which is secured to a fixed support, as astake or pin 12 driven into the road bed on one side of the crossing.The purpose of this spring is to hold thegears 7 and 9 of that sideproaching from the right, The drum or peripherally grooved pulley 8 oneach shaft 3 is connected with the corresponding drum or pulley of theother shaft by a wire rope or a chain 13 so arranged that the rockingmotion of either-shaft will be transmitted in the same direction to theother shaft and cause both shafts '3 to turn together. At-a'suitab-lepoint in this connecting chain or wire rope 13 is-interlpesed a spring,or elastic portion 14, that will permit the rope to yield sufficientlyto avoid breakage, in the event of any obs-truction to the easy andcomplete movement of either shaft 3 and its attached gate.

Aseries of short horizontal or transversely arranged shafts, as 15 and16, are placed along one side of the railway track at substantiallyregular intervals, receding from the gates at the crossing or placeto beprotected. In Figs. 1 and 2 are shown only two of these shafts at theright of the crossing and only one at the left, but it will beunderstood that any re-; quired number may be employed in order toprovide for a gradualopening and 'closing of the gates or guards at thecrossing and that the series will be extended to such distance" as willafford ample time for the automatic operation of thegates before thetrain arrives at the cross in By referring to Figs. land 3 it will beseen that a pulley or drum 17, fast on the shaft at the left of thecrossing, is connected by a chain or wire rope 18 with each of a seriesof drums or pulleys 19 which are fast :on the series of shafts 15, 16,on both sides of the crossing. Each shaft and 16 has secured thereto aspur gear 20 located adjacent to either the inner side or outer side ofone of the track rails. On the same side of said track rail is arrangeda series of lever arms 21 each of which is pivoted at one end to theside of the rail, or other support, and at its other. end is providedwith a toothed segment .22 meshing with one-of the gears 20, beforementioned.

The points of pivotal attachment'of the several lever arms 21 are insubstantially the.

same plane but the leverarms themselves are so arranged that when innormal position their upper edges rise, by a gradual inclina- 1 The thegate is approached, rises slightly higher above the tread of the railthan its predecessor. The toothed segment 22 on eachlever arm is carriedby the higher end of said arm,

or that end which is toward the gate or cattleguard. Each lever arm 21rests on a, spring 25, or other yielding support, through which it willbe restored to its normally elevated position after the gates have beenoperated.

It will be understood that the gates are carried by the shafts 3 andthat they may be of any suitable or well known construction. In Figs. 1and 7 they are shown in the form of cattle-guards 24: adapted andarranged to occupy a normally erect or vertical position across therailway track or tracks; but it is obvious that instead of threecattle-guards, or in addit-iouthereto, the ends of the shafts 3 may bemade to carry the ordinary gate arms or beams that are employed forblocking a crossing during the passage of a railway train. Thecattle-guards 2% are preferably made in several sections'a's shown inFig. 7, and the outermost sections should be extended far enough outsidethe rails effectually to prevent cattle from passing and gaining thetrack.

Now if a'train is supposed to be approaching the crossing from the leftof Fig. 1-,i t will be seen that the flanges of the locomotive wheelswill successively depress the lever arms 21 on that side of thecrossing. The respective toothed segments 22 will thus be made to impartrotary movement to the gears 20 and the shafts on which theyare mounted;and the rotation of the shafts farthest from the crossing will betransmitted through th drums or pulleys 19 and chain or rope 18 tothesucceeding sh afts nearest the crossing and also to the shafts 15 and16 on the opposite side of the crossing. Through the chain or wire rope18 the motion derived from the successive depression of thelever arms 21at the left of Fig. 1 will be gradually t mitted to the drum or pulley17 on the shaft 10 at 'the left of the crossing and thence throughtheintermeshing gears 7 and '9 to the adjacent gate shaft 3 in suchmanner as to cause the gate carried by that shaft to be gradually swungdownward in front of the approaching train and in'the same directionthat the train is moving. At the same time the farther gate orcattle-guard is swung down in like manner and direction through motiontransmitted thereto by the chain or wire rope13 connectingthe dru ms Sonthe gate shafts. By the provision for transmitting motion, through :thewire rope IS-andthe several pulleys 19, to the series of shafts, as 15and 16, on the fartherside of the crossing the gears 20,'shown at theright of Fig. 1, will be caused to act on the toothed segments 22in suchdirection as to draw down the series of lever arms 21 below the level ofthe tread of the rail so that they will offer no obstruction to thepassage of the train nor be exposed-to any risk of breakage or injury.As soon as the train has passed by all the lever arms 21, the gates willbe raised,or restored to their normal positions by the action ofthecompressed springs 23 lying beneath said 1ever arms, or any othersuitable means. for accomplishing the same result may be employed.

It may now be supposed that the gates are to be operated by a trainapproaching from the right endof Fig. 1, and it will be seen that inorder to do this with the mechanism illustrated it will be necessary tobring into mesh the gears 7 and 9 at the right of the crossing and atthe same time disengage the corresponding gears that are on the left. Asbefore explained the slide blocks 4 of the gate shafts 3 are connectedby a rod or bar 5 so that both shafts may be adjusted together. Totheslide block 4 on the right, say, of the crossing is secured one end of achain or wire rope 25,,Figs. 1 and 4, the other end of which is fastenedto a drum or pulley 26 on a transversely arranged shaft 27 supportedoutside the track and at a point beyond the series of lever arms 21 onthe right of the crossing. This shaft 27 has secured thereto a spur-gear28 meshing with a toothed segment 29 on a lever arm 30 that is pivotallysupported adjacent to the track rail in the same manner as the leverarms 21 hereinbefore described. A train approaching from the right willfirst depress the pivoted lever arm 30 and thereby cause its toothedsegment 29 to impart to the gear 28, shaft 27 and pulley 26 a rotarymovement in such direction as will partly wind the chain or wire rope 25onto the pulley 26 and thus cause it to draw the connected slide blocks4 a sufficient distance to the right to bring into mesh the gears 7 and9 on that side of the crossing, the corresponding gears on the otherside being, of course, disengaged by the same movement.

The short shaft 10 at the right of the cross ing is provided with arigidly secured drum or pulley 31, Figs. 1 and 2, that is connected by acrossed driving chain or wire rope 32 with a drum or pulley 33 fast onthe nearest shaft 15 in the series of lever-operated shafts at the rightof the crossing. In this chain or wire rope 32 may be interposed aspring or elastic portion 34 that will yield sufficiently to preventbreakage or disarrangement of any part of the mechanism in case of anyobstruction to the free movement of either gate. It will now be seenthat after a train has approached from the right, depressed the leverarm 30 and thereby brought into mesh the gears 7 and 9 at the right ofthe crossing, the further progress of the locomotive wheels willsuccessively depress the series of lever arms 21 on that side andthrough the crossed driving chain or rope 32 will actuate the shaft 10and gears 7 and 9 in such direction as will cause the connected cattleguards or gates to be swung downward, away from the approaching trainand in the same direction that the train is moving.

1 By reference to Figs. 5 and 6 it will be observed that to one of theslide blocks 4 is secured one end of a fiat spring 35 which carriesonthe underside of its other end a downward projecting locking pin 36 thatis brought over a socket 37 in the base or support 6 when the gateshafts have been shifted or adjusted to the right, or laterally, asabove described. The spring 35 is extended partly under the adjacentgate shaft 3 on which is a cam or segmental projection 38 so arrangedthat when the gates are swung downward to a horizontal position, by anapproaching train,the said cam projection will bear on the spring 35 andforce the locking pin 36 into the socket or looking recess 37, therebyholding the connected slide blocks 4 in a locked position, toward theright, after the wheels of the train have passed ofi from the lever arm30, and preventing the spring 11 from restoring the said slide blocks totheir normal position at the left until the gates have resumed an erectposition after the train has passed over allthe lever arms on both sidesof the crossing.

A train approaching from the right of Fig. l and successively depressingthe several lever arms 21 on that side will also cause a downwardmovement, through the endless chain or wire rope 18 and connected drums19, of all the lever arms in advance of the train, precisely as the samemovements take place when a train is approaching from the left, asalready described. This simultaneous movement of all the gate operatinglever arms on the farther side of the crossing will be moved downward inseason to escape contact with the wheels.

On the slide block operating lever arm 30 is a laterally curved horn orprojection 39, Figs. 1 and 2, extended in such direction that whenengaged by a wheel flange of a train approaching from the left the saidlever arm will be forced laterally without receiving any downwardmovement and without being subjected to any risk of breakage or otherinjury. The lever arm 30 may be provided with a spring 40, Fig. 2, toassist in restoring it to an elevated position after the passage of atrain from the right and when the spring 11 moves the connected slideblocks 4 back to the left, on the upward movement of the gates.

The spring 11 is of sufficient strength to normally hold the slideblocks 4 to the left with the gears 7 and 9 on that side of the crossingin meshing engagement to permit the automatic operation of the gates bya train approaching from that side. At that time the pin 36, carried bythe spring 35, is in position to be pressed by the rocking of the shaft3 into a cutaway portion or recess 41, Fig. 5, of the bed or base 6 onwhich the slide block is supported. The pin 36 does not need to have anylocking engagement in this recess 41, as

the spring 11 is sufficient to hold in mesh the gears 7 and 9 on theleft of the crossing. is obvious that a suitable arrangement ofcounterbalance weights may be substituted for this spring-if desired.When the gate shafts and slide blocks have been automati- *callyadjusted to the right by a train ap-.

proaching from that direction the downward movement of the gates, byforcing the lock- "I ing pin 36 into the locking recess 37, willhold fin mesh the gears 7 and 9 at the right until after the train hasentirelycleared the gate operating mechanism.

It'will be understoodthatthe terms right and left are merely relativeand have been employed only forconvenience of description,

jacent tracks.

as the position of parts-of the gate operating mechanism may obviouslybe varied within 1 certain limits without affecting the principle of myinvention.

Although I have shown the several lever arms arranged on the innerside-0f onset the track-rails it is obvious that they may be arranged onthe outer side. or pulleys placed on the several shafts .and

connected by chains, wire ropes or cables,.any

other suitable gearing "may be employed that is adapted to accomplishthe desired results.

The gate operating mechanism may be duplicated on opposite sides ofarailway traclgand the'sam'e mechanism or separate mechanisms may beemployed for operating gateson adth-rough which an automatic movement is:si-

mu-ltaneously transmitted in the same direc-. tion to both parallelshafts 3 and thence to;

the attached cattle-guards or gates maybe usefully applied in varioussituations along a railway, whether at crossings, theentrances t0bridges, trestles or tunnels, or elsewhere, as may be found desirable.

ating mechanism that both gates will be caused to move together in thesame direc-' tion, and so that they will both swing downs ward in thedirection that the train is mov-,.

ing it will be obvious that should either gate, for any reason, notdescend fully or com- :pletely it will not project in such a way astoform an obstacle to the passage of the train, but will descend fartheras the train.

passes over it and without being exposed to injury. Should it be desiredto arrange the gates so that they will open or close in oppositedirections it will be only necessary to cross the chain or wire rope 13through which the gate shafts are connected.

When there .is only one gate required, as where the fences of a fieldcome close to a railroad track, such gate may be operated in the samemanner as the two gates described,

by means of the mechanism actuated by a.

train moving in either direction.

What I claim as my invention is 1. Thecombination with'a railway gate orguard, of a series of lever arms arranged at substantially regularintervals along one side Instead of drums The described mechanism;

By so arranging the several parts of the automatic gate actuof a trackrail at adistancefromthe gate and in position to be successivelydepressed by the wheels of a train approaching the gate,

each of said lever arms being pivotally supported at one end andprovided at its other end with a toothed segment, a series of horizontalshafts arranged transversely to the railway track and each provided withaspurgear in mesh with the toothed segment of one of said lever arms,gearing for connecting the gate with the several shafts in said seriesgradually to operate the gate on the approach of a train, and means forautomatically elevating the said lever arms and restoring the gate orguard to its former position after the passage of the t rain,substantially as described.

:2. The combination with a railway gate or guard, of a series of pivotedlever arms arranged at substantially regular intervals along one side ofatrack rail and in position to be successively depressed by the wheelsof a train approaching the gate, a series of horizontal shafts arrangedtransversely to the railway track, toothed segments and gear wheelsconnecting the said lever arms with the said transverse shaf:ts,gearingconnecting the gate with the-severalshafts in said series gradually tooperate the gate on the approach of atrain. and means for automaticallyelevating the .said lever arms and sustaining them at successivelyincreased heights above the tread of the'rail when the gate is restoredto its former position, after the passage of a train, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination with parallel gate shafts arranged transversely to .arailway track at a crossing or other point to be pro tected, and gearingconnecting said gate shafts, of a series of lever arms arranged atsubstantially regular .intervals along one side of a track rail at adistance from the gate and receding therefrom on each side of thecrossing, said lever arms being each pivotally supported at one end andprovided at its other end with a toothed segment and said lever armsbeing yieldingly sustained at successively increased heights above thetread of the rail in going toward thegate and in position to besuccessively depressed by the wheels of a train approaching the gate, aseries of horizontal shafts arranged transversely to the track, on eachside of the cross-- gear-carrying shaft with the nearest shaft on thatside in the series of shafts geared with the lever arms, and means forautomatically shifting or adjusting the gate shafts to the right or lefttochange the meshing of the gears and adapt the gates for operation by atrain moving in either direction, substantially said shafts together, ofconnected slide blocks in which said shafts are mounted to be, capableof simultaneous lateral adjustment to the right or left, a springconnected to one of a said slide blocks, a horizontal shaft mountedtransversely to one of the track rails and provided at one end with adrum or pulley and at its other end with a spur-gear, a cable, chain, orwire rope connecting said drum with the other one of the slide blocks, alever arm pivoted at one end alongside the track rail and provided atits other end with a toothed segment meshed with the said spur-gear, andautomatically actuated. mechanism for imparting a rocking movement tothe gateshafts from the wheels of a train passing in either direction,substantially as described.

5. The combination of parallel gate shafts mounted transversely to arailway track on opposite sides of a crossing and in connected slideblocks that are adapted to be automatically adjusted parallel with thetrack to shift the said gate shafts laterally to the right or left,means for automatically adjusting said slide blocks, a spring or itsequivalent for restoring the slide blocks when released, an autornaticlock for securing the slide blocks in one of the adjusted positions ofthe gate shafts, and automatically actuated devlces connected in seriesalong the track at a distance from the gate and on each side of thecrossing for automatically operating the gate from the wheels of a trainmoving in either direction, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal inpresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN BAADE. [L. s]

Witnesses: E. W. EWING, R. Gr. GAINES.

